Mozilla Cries Foul Over Default Edge Browser in Windows 10

Microsoft seems to have hit the bulls eye with Windows 10 with 14 million installs already done and the frenzied updating session still going on. The fact that they officially released the ISO for downloads speaks volumes about how aggressively Microsoft wants to grab a big chunk of Operating System market. Replacing the almost redundant Internet Explorer with a brand new Edge Browser was one of the strategic move by Microsoft to ensure the prosperity of the Windows ecosystem. Obviously, the Redmond giant has made Edge browser the default browser in Windows 10 and this seems to have not gone well with Mozilla.

Mozilla CEO Chris Beard was so infuriated that he wrote an open letter to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella expressing his displeasure over the move. Chris said in the letter “I am writing to you about a very disturbing aspect of Windows 10. Specifically, that the update experience appears to have designed to throw away the choice your customers have made about the Internet experience they want, and replace it with the Internet Experience Microsoft wants them to have.”

It is not that Microsoft is totally blocking out other browsers and all you need to do is go to Mozilla which will prompt a popup that says click on “Use Firefox as my default browser.” Now here is the twist in tale, the selection shows a Microsoft Edge icon only upon clicking which users would be able to select third party browsers as default.

Beard adds “While it is technically possible for people to preserve their previous settings and defaults, the design of the new Windows 10 upgrade experience and user interface does not make this obvious nor easy.”

Mozilla CEO urged Microsoft to “reconsider business tactic here and again respect peoples right to choice and control their online presence.”

The entire conspiracy theory somehow didn’t go too well with us and we still feel that if users want Mozilla, they will install it however hard it is to do so. Moreover even if Microsoft wanted users to shun from other browsers it won’t be able to do so without offering an improvised user experience and better set of features in its Edge. Surprisingly it was Mozilla which had earned wrath from its users last year after making Yahoo as its default search engine.

Mahit Huilgol Senior Author Mahit Huilgol is a Mechanical Engineering graduate and is a Technology and Automobile aficionado. He ditched the Corporate boardroom wars in favor of technology battleground. Also, a foodie by heart and loves both the edible chips and the non-edible silicon chips.